News archive

News archive - January-2013

The biofule production incentive unweiled in finance minister Pravin Gordhan's latest budget is just one of a number of initistives aimed at speeding up SA's transition to a job-creating sustainable,low -carbon and green ecomony, as outlined in the National Development Plan. To download this article, click here.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is getting closer to establishing the Office of the Valuer-General as an autonomous statury body and final authority on land and property valuation. To download this article, click here.

Agricultural leaders are sceptical that the President Jacob Zuma's plans to speed up land re-open land claims, in order to accomodate pre-June 1913 claims by Khoi and San descendents, will get finacial backing from treasury. T o download this article, click here.

In recognition of a rather bleak global and local economic outlook, Agbiz welcomes a rather bold budget 2013/2014, as presented by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on 27 February 2013. There was an underlying sense to move to greater austerity, as the budget deficit has increased and real tax revenue has decreased over the past couple of years. Against that background, Agbiz supports the new initiatives and focus areas that are to be financed from savings, efficiency gains and reprioritisation. Government's intention to spend more on infrastructure, as opposed to public sector consumption, as a reprioritisation strategy, is constructive.

THE Treasury on Wednesday showed the government’s commitment to using agriculture as a job creation tool in rural communities by allocating R6.2bn to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, with a focus on supporting newly established and emerging farmers.

Of that amount, R2.1bn will be transferred to provinces this year.

In the 2013-14 budget, Finance Minister Pravin Gorhan also allocated R1.4bn to the comprehensive agricultural support programme, which will accumulate to R5bn over the next three years. The programme is aimed at expanding farm infrastructure and provides support for dipping, fencing and rehabilitation of viable irrigation schemes.

JOHN Purchase, CEO of the Agricultural Business Chamber and a member of both Business Unity SA and Nedlac, started his career as a scientist in the Department of Agriculture. He tells Lucky Biyase of his experiences in the corporate world

What was your first job and what did it entail?

While studying for a BSc agriculture degree at the University of Pretoria in the late 1970s, I did vacation work at the Small Grain Centre - not Small Brain Centre, as we were teased in the Bethlehem community. It was a research station of the Department of Agriculture and I worked there every December-January holiday to earn some desperately needed pocket money to get me through varsity.